No more free plastic bags at Walmart

Toronto, January 29 (CINEWS): There were actually customers who made a decision to shop at Walmart simply because they got free plastic bags. Now one of Walmart’s USP will be lost as Walmart Canada announced it would soon begin charging customers for plastic bags as part of its strategy for cutting the amount of plastic that often ends up in landfills.
Beginning on Feb. 9, customers will be charged five cents each for plastic bags, with reusable bags available for a discounted rate of 25 cents each.
The introduction of a small fee in other countries has helped Walmart to reduce the number of plastic bags by more than half.
Walmart says some of the proceeds from the new charge will go toward supporting recycling initiatives for grocery bags and other thin plastic objects.
The company said it’s also going to improve in-store recycling and collection programs and work with suppliers to find ways of removing plastic from its packaging.
Walmart Canada has 397 stores and serves more than 1.2 million customers per day.
But talking to many customers, few really ever throw out plastic bags. Ajay M a Mississauga resident says he makes sure he re-uses all his plastic bags to line his garbage cans in the house. He re-uses bags until they give out and then puts it in his re-cycling bin. “So how does it get to a landfill? Don’t cities recycle plastic?”
Like it or not, the idea behind charging for plastic bags is to encourage more people to carry cloth or other sturdy bags that can be re-used often and ofcourse save the planet.